Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) 28 August 2019 was Unequal Pay Day, marking the 59 additional days from the end of the previous financial year that women must work, on average, to earn the same amount as men earnt in 2018-19,

(ii) the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) annual data, released on 15 August 2019, shows that the gender pay gap in Australia is still unacceptably high at 14%,

(iii) men earn $25,717, or 21.3%, more than women each year on average, in full-time work across all jobs, including overtime and bonuses (total remuneration),

(iv) financial and insurance services remains the industry with the highest total remuneration gender pay gap at 24.4%,

(v) professional, scientific and technical services is the industry with the second-highest gender pay gap at 24.3%,

(vi) in May 2019, the gender pay gap was 17.3% in the private sector and 10.7% in the public sector,

(vii) in 2018, the gender pay gap amongst managers was 25.7%, with an average total remuneration dollar difference of $50,370 – WGEA attributes this gap as due to more discretionary pay and less reliance on awards and collective agreements among non-managers,

(viii) the WGEA, KPMG Australia and Diversity Council of Australia paper, She's Price(d)less: the economics of the gender pay gap , estimates that gender discrimination is the largest single contributor to the gender pay gap, at 39%,

(ix) WGEA data shows that 70% of workplaces have a formal policy and strategy in place to support flexible working arrangements for employees, yet less than 2% have set targets for men's engagement in flexible work, and

(x) 47.8% of organisations reporting to WGEA provide primary carer's leave, and 41.8% provide secondary carer's leave, in addition to the Federal Government's paid parental leave scheme; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to:

(i) increase the resourcing for WGEA, strengthen its powers, and require all large employers to publicly report their gender pay gap,

(ii) prohibit the use of pay gag clauses in private employment contracts, which disguise the gender pay gap in the private sector,

(iii) set gender pay equality as an objective of awards and the Fair Work Act,

(iv) introduce measures to ensure appropriate classification and pay for work in traditionally low paid industries where the majority of workers are women and/or migrants, and

(v) expand the coverage of WGEA to include the public sector.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) | Link to this | Hansard source

Under this government the gender pay gap is now 14 per cent, a record low; women's employment is at 6.1 million, a record high. The government is providing an additional $8.6 million to the WGEA to improve workplace gender reporting. When businesses report to the WGEA, they are more likely to address the gender pay gaps within their organisation and narrow the overall gender pay gap. In setting employment terms and conditions the Fair Work system, as introduced by the former Labor government, incorporates the principle of equal remuneration and provides mechanisms for the independent Fair Work Commission to adjust terms and conditions, including on work value grounds.

Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

This motion is very confusing to me. The Greens support no gender; they are not saying male or female. This is very confusing to me in terms of whether we should support this motion or not. When you want to get rid of gender in our society and you don't put gender on birth certificates, how on earth can you still say there is a gender pay gap between male and female? I'm totally confused. Also, this has not been worked out completely. They take a profession and divide it by the number of people employed in that profession, and then they see inequality. I cannot support this motion. Equality for everyone.

Question agreed to.